Talk about after-care. Most designers and brands in Paris this week were firmly focused on pitching and shifting their latest collections, but not Extreme Cashmere founder Saskia Dijkstra. Instead she opened a “spa” dedicated to making sure that those who have already purchased her knits will never need to replace them.
It turns out that Dijkstra is as evangelical about washing instructions as her customers are about her lushly loomed cashmere sweaters, dresses, pants and more. In partnership with the high-end German appliance brand Miele, she has launched a crusade to wash away what she sees as a stigma that blights cashmere as a high-maintenance material: Dry Clean Only.
“Cashmere loves water,” corrected Dijkstra as she walked Vogue Runway through her “spa.” She added: “I want everyone to look after their sweaters. But people don’t dare wash them in water. The whole idea of Extreme Cashmere is that it is the best sweater, the best quality. So what I can do is show everybody how to wash their sweaters so they stay nice.”
Six pink Miele machines (a special Extreme Cashmere edition) were embedded in the wall of her “spa” space as they gently churned and turned their precious cashmere cargo. Around a raised platform on which her sweaters had been put out to dry—laid flat, crucially—“spa” assistants were demonstrating how to iron cashmere (on a low heat, with a thin layer of cotton between the iron and cashmere) as well how to best use machines to remove any pilling.
As we inspected the facilities, Dijkstra laid out her washing philosophy: like any pioneer, some of her methods seemed controversial compared to the wisdom of convention. “I always wash mine at 40°C degrees,” she said, insisting that she has never experienced shrinkage, even though she subjects her sweaters to that highish-temperature wash every three wears. A spokesperson for Miele, who chose to remain anonymous, took a more moderate approach, saying: “For our customers we recommend using a wool wash program which gently cleans cashmere at 30°C with a low spin speed.” Displaying next-level Miele-mouthed spokesperson skills, he added: “we revolutionized fabric care with our patented honeycomb drum, which allows laundry to gently glide on a thin film of water, preserving even the beauty of cashmere. Now, we are taking the next innovation step in the field of laundry care with our InfinityCare honeycomb drum, the world’s first drum without ribs for even greater laundry protection.”
This was getting way too technical for me. So after a conversation about moths (Dijkstra insists that samples are placed in a moth-purging heated chamber before being washed on return to Extreme Cashmere’s mothless HQ) I headed off wearing my trusty double-faced cashmere Cucinelli jacket, which in retrospect I really should have dropped off for quick spin. The Extreme Cashmere x Miele Cashmere Spa is open until 8 March 2025 at 36 rue Chevert, Paris 75007.
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